£Being a 20-year old footballer who hasn’t really gotten around to doing too much, Raheem Sterling is easily coming off as a greedy little s@#$ for refusing to sign quite a hefty pay raise and extension with Liverpool, but he’s just doing what anyone else in his position would probably be doing.

Which is handle the negotiations both in the boardrooms and when that doesn’t get the pleasing result both sides were hoping for (and maybe it was doomed to fail right from the start), shut them down and move on to the media.

This has to be more than just Sterling. It’s usually about agents and their own agendas and needs powerfully making their moves. Sterling is now outthere for clubs to see and start thinking about. He’s not available right now. He has a contract until 2017. But if Sterling continues to hold out and give Liverpool trouble, they’ll be forced to consider selling him, just like they have with Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez.

Sterling might want to make it seem like he isn’t greedy or jumping a bit ahead of himself, but he comes off very wrong and very unsympathetic with his latest comments, especially from the view point of Liverpool fans.

Finally, Sterling needs to take care of himself. Loyalty is nice in football and maybe sticking around with Liverpool is the best possible decision for him, especially at this stage of his career (I personally think so). But when the main thing driving you is making money and winning titles, even if you’re not going to play much and risk hurting your career instead of growing through something together, there’s no reason to act differently from what Sterling is doing right now.

When you say something like “I’m not a money grabbing 20-year old” and turn down an offer worth £100,000 a week, it’s to expect anyone to actually feel sorry or any sort of sympathy for you.